Zen is very simple, so simple we can’t get it. When you laugh, what is actually happening? When you laugh opposites come tighter like thunder filling in the black left by lightning. The lightening burns a string in the air, and the thunder is when the air comes rushing in. Laughter is when Zen burns a space between the opposites, and laughter is the thunder of mind when he comes rushing in.

Laughter is the release from the contradiction of opposite world ideas that are mutually dependent. Laughter is unity mind. In laughter you are free from contradiction, from the horns of the dilemma of consciousness. Laughter is body/mind as One. Laughter is who you were before your parents were born.

Laughter is the sound of one hand clapping. Laughter is the end of arguing. Laughter is the end of conflict. Laughter is the end of the puzzle. Laughter is Zen. However a good sneeze serves the same purpose. We die in laughter and a sneeze.

That’s why we say God Bless you when you sneeze. There is a moment there when you are between life and death. That is when the blessing gets in.